Admitting the Truth
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Just before returning to the Dursleys at the end of his first Hogwarts year, Harry admits to a concerned McGonagall and a sneering Snape that he is abused and neglected at home. Neville helps them understand. AU, partly OOC, mentioning abuse!Dursleys


**Admitting the Truth**

_Just a small drabble my muse decided to write in the middle of the night. I hope you still enjoy it a bit._

_I'm not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes or help me to correct them._

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._

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Ron lazily switched his alarm clock off, realising that his roommates were already up and about. He glanced at Harry's bed, noticing in surprise that his best friend still seemed to be asleep. The other boy was curled up deep under his covers, so that only his nose, eyes and his messy hair were visible. Ron stepped over to Harry's bed, shaking his friend's shoulder.

"Get up, lazybones. We're going home today!"

"No," Harry suddenly began to moan. "I don't want to get up, and I don't want to go back to my relatives. Hogwarts is my home now. My uncle will only beat me with his belt again."

"I'm sorry, Harry, but perhaps you should try to speak with Dumbledore once again?"

"Already did," Harry mumbled. "He doesn't care."

"Look Harry," Ron said, slowly becoming impatiently, "we have to hurry up; otherwise, we're going to miss breakfast, and the carriages that'll take us to the station are going to leave right after breakfast."

"No, I don't want to," Harry replied stubbornly, nestling deeper into his covers.

"Ron, you better call McGonagall," Dean suggested as he struggled to shut his trunk. "Come Seamus, sit on my trunk for a moment."

"All right," Ron mumbled and hurriedly left the room to fetch their Head of House.

A few minutes later, Professor McGonagall sat on the edge of Harry's bed, throwing the figure under the blankets a concerned look. "Mr. Potter, you have to get up. The carriages will be leaving for the station soon."

"No," Harry mumbled, "don't want to go."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, but all the students have to return home today. Students are not allowed to remain at Hogwarts over the summer," McGonagall said softly, causing Harry to protest vehemently.

"Hogwarts is my home now. My relatives despise me because of being a wizard. They call me a freak, and they beat and starve me. They lock me into my cupboard and only let me out once a day to use the loo. I don't want to go back there."

"They beat you?" the professor queried, a horrified expression on her face.

"My uncle always beat me when I didn't finish my chores or did better at school than Dudley. Why do you think my whole body is covered by bruises and scars?"

McGonagall glanced at her watch. '_We really don't have time_,' she mused and hurriedly sent a Patronus to her most trusted colleague. "Why didn't you tell me earlier about your relatives or ask the Headmaster to come up with a different solution for the summer holidays?" she asked reproachfully.

"I asked Dumbledore..."

"Professor Dumbledore, Harry."

Harry let out a sigh. "I asked Professor Dumbledore if I could spend the summer at Hogwarts, but he only said no. He wasn't interested in my reasons at all."

"Did you tell him that your relatives abused and neglected you, Harry?" McGonagall asked softly.

Unaware of the fact that his most hated professor had just entered the room, Harry replied, "He didn't even let me explain. I tried to tell him how many of my bones my uncle already broke and that he was always beating my back with his belt, but he didn't even listen."

Ignoring her colleague's sneer, the Gryffindor Head continued to ask the boy questions, which Harry answered, before he suddenly began to beg his invisible uncle not to beat him, promising that he would be good and wouldn't do any freakish things.

"Severus, we can't allow Harry to return to an abusive home, don't you think so?" McGonagall asked worriedly as Harry continued his one-sided conversation with his uncle.

The Potions Master sneered. "Potter is just an attention seeking brat. Children that are abused never willingly speak about the matter in front of others, let alone in front of their most hated teacher. Just make him get up and attend breakfast."

Just when the Slytherin Head turned back towards the door, Neville spoke up in a small, soft voice. "I'm sorry, Professors, but would it be possible that Harry is delirious? I believe what he says, but I don't think he would admit it willingly, and I know that he was feeling unwell last night. Maybe he is feverish and doesn't know what he is doing."

Snape raised an eyebrow at the intimidated first year, while McGonagall leaned over to get a good look at Harry's face, taking in that his eyes were closed and his cheeks were deeply flushed. She hesitantly extended a hand to feel his forehead, quickly removing it in shock. "Mr. Longbottom is right, Severus. The boy is burning up."

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Harry's mind slowly returned back to consciousness and he lazily opened his eyes, groaning inwardly as he noticed that he had a terrible headache. '_Oh right, I already had that headache last night_,' he remembered at the same time as the thought, '_It's the end of the school year and I have to return to the Dursleys,' _penetrated his mind. Letting out a small moan, he quickly closed his eyes again, frowning as his senses informed him that the noises and smell around him were not those of his dormitory. _'Where am I?_' he mused, cracking his eyes open once more.

"Mr. Potter, welcome back to the world of the living," a soft, silky voice penetrated his ears, causing Harry to glance around in surprise that only intensified at the sight of the Potions Master sitting on a chair next to his bed.

"What...?" he asked in confusion, throwing the teacher a questioning look as he noticed that he seemed to be in the hospital wing at Hogwarts.

"As eloquent as ever, Mr. Potter," the professor sneered, before he explained, "After you told us about the abuse and neglect you suffered at your relatives' hands a few days ago, Professor McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey and I have convinced the Headmaster to appoint me your temporary guardian over the summer, so that you can stay at Hogwarts with us."

"I told you... what?" Harry asked incredulously. "I'm not abused. My uncle merely punished me when it was necessary," he protested in a small voice.

Seeing that Snape raised an eyebrow in disbelief, he thought, '_That's not abuse, and even if it was, I'd never admit it to anyone, let alone my least favourite professor_.'

While the professor explained to Harry in a soft voice how they were going to spend the summer together once Madam Pomfrey would release him from the hospital wing, Harry drifted back to sleep with a small smile playing on his lips and a very comforting thought at the front of his mind, '_I can stay here, at home_.'

**The End**


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